December 16, 1992
12:00 AM (EST)

News Release Number: STScI-1992-29

December 16, 1992: NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has uncovered the strongest evidence yet that many stars form
planetary systems.
Dr. C. Robert O'Dell of Rice University, Houston, Texas and colleagues have used
Hubble to discover extended disks of dust around 15 newly formed stars in the
Orion Nebula, a starbirth region 1,500 light-years away.
Such disks are a prerequisite for the formation of solar Systems like our own.
"These images provide the best evidence for planetary systems," said O'Dell.